Miri, Sarawak Part 3: Niah Cave & the Tutu Fish

Chào bạn! (hello in Vietnamese)
We are back from Hanoi, the city of bustling vehicles, motorcycles especially. Being a bystander there for ourselves was an amazing encounter. Would love to share the stories of this developing country bits by bits with all of you.

Prior to that, let’s finish off with the astounding landscape and rainforest of Miri.

Continued from Miri Part 2…
Also read Miri Part 1…

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Since we were fed with a bountiful amount of Sarawak local goodies for the past 2 to 3 days, it’s time to get up on our feet and prepare for some serious workouts. Miss Jean sure know where is the best getaway to waste away our adipose tissues and flabs. Mulu Cave was actually one of her ideas but we have to catch a plane from Miri City.

What’s the alternative?
…………………………………….

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Niah Cave


How to get there?

By Bus
1. Take the no. 33 bus (Miri Transport or Kingswood ) to the Long distance bus terminal about 20mins away or catch a taxi for RM12 – RM15.

2. Take any bus going towards Bintulu, Sibu or Sarikei and stop at Simpang Ngu junction (this takes 1hr45min). Bus fare at RM10

3. At Simpang Ngu, there’s a supermarket and an open market so you can either grab lunch here or pack some for the journey. From here, take a taxi or private car for RM30 to the park entrance (about 30mins away).

4. Returning, it’s best to leave a little earlier about 4.00pm so that a taxi can be arranged for you by the ranger to take you out to Simpang Ngu

By Taxi
Many taxis are available that can take you to the park for RM120 per way. Try negotiating with them and sometimes it can drop to RM 80 per way.

By Private 4 wheel drive (WD) or Vans
This was how we traveled. Lead by Miss Jean and her bro-in-law, we reached Batu Niah, a small town where the Niah National Park is located in about 1 hour.
If you have decided to rent a 4WD alternatively, you can catch one of these at the bus stop just across the road from the local bus station (at the tourist information centre).

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On reaching the Niah National Park, be prepared to bath yourself with sweat and work out to the max as you play with the hundreds of steps! Approximately 4 hours of exercise surrounded by a luxuriant, dense forest of tropical Sarawak and architecture of natural caves.

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the trail map

Miss Jean’s tips:

  • Wear long pants to prevent bites. great.. we only have jeans. so smart.
  • Wear a cap/ hat if you are sunlight sensitive like me. I don’t want my face tanned.
  • Bring torch lights loaded with enough batteries. Huge ones better. It’ll be pitch dark in the cave. The torch light will be your best friend.
  • Wear comfortable shoes. It was really slippery inside the cave. Every step we move have to be done cautiously.
  • Bring gloves (optional), if you don’t wanna dirty your hands with bats’ droppings on the railings and bars. Hmmm… good fertilizers.
  • Do not call out each others name in the forest. I guess everyone knows why ;P

Let’s begin, shall we?
Take a boat ride across the Niah river, which is only less than 30 meters away and it costs RM1 for one way.

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Making our way to the cave, passing by the mighty forest.

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Miss Jean leading the way. She was our Miri compass.

We befriended the trees and petite residents of the forest.

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the red millipede

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Watch the snail crossing the bridge!

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the Trader’s Cave

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The ground resembled the moon surface. So we did some moonwalk. We moonwalked up and out of the Trader’s Cave, marching towards the Painter’s Cave.

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Taking a wee break in the Painter’s Cave

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the beauty of Niah Cave. Please ignore the odour of the fertilizers.

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On our way down this time

On our way out from the forest, we changed track, walking towards the longhouse quarters of the natives or bumiputras. There, you can witness how native youngsters spend their leisure time. Swimming, fishing, bathing and washing clothes in the same river. Some climbed tress, some stared straight at us. We smiled back and they looked confused somehow.

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Shelters improvised with ASTRO.

We finished our Niah Cave outing around 3.30pm, Miss Jean and her bro-in-law decently suggested that we should try the well-known Tutu fish located in Siputi, Bekenu, an outskirt area from Miri. Highly recommended by the Miri-ans here, be sure to drop by this restaurant named Sing Chiong.

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One of their signature dish served: the Tutu Fish
Also known as Ikan Betutu, Ikan Hantu or “Sun Hok” in KL. You could feast on Tutu at a much cheaper price.

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Steamed Tutu Fish – utter freshness.

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Smooth white meat high in protein. Yum.

Steamed Fresh Water Prawns – another wonder of Sing Chiong. Besides the unexplained freshness, the silky smooth steamed egg to go with the prawns were too married with the taste of fresh jumping prawns.

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Stir Fry Sweet Potato Leaves with Egg. Sweet and tasty. I could finish a bowl of rice with just this dish.

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Sing Chiong Restaurant
Siputi, Bekenu
Sarawak
+608-5719196

These end our amazing Miri trip.
Thanks to Miss Jean who continuously drove us around for local delicacies and the interesting hotspots of Miri. She definitely made Miri even more interesting, romantic and yummier.

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a great photographer too 🙂

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14 Replies to “Miri, Sarawak Part 3: Niah Cave & the Tutu Fish”

  1. great trip with great ppl and great photos!

    dear, the red millipede very geli lar @@

  2. Big Boys Oven says: Reply

    an awesome exploration and findings!

  3. Never seen a green shelled snail before!! Great shots too! And ooo…lovely dishes..all also I LIKE!!!!

  4. thenomadGourmand says: Reply

    Great hols!
    In Msia too! Even better cos u got a local host 😉 😉

  5. thule a.k.a leo says: Reply

    normally I would go to a place where I can find a host to bring me around (local destination)… so that I can eat and taste some of the well hidden places…

  6. seems like great adventure loh`…but see the red milipede bulu roma also naik..geli!

  7. Wow you went to the Niah caves! Great pictures and great workout too! LOL

  8. Looks really good. One of my to do list.

  9. kampungboycitygal says: Reply

    wow soon hock, we called it marbled goby. it costs like rm 140 per kg in a random chinese restaurant here.

  10. Never been there but great to see it in your post. Thanks for sharing those lovely photos.

  11. ~Christine~Leng says: Reply

    aiwei~
    the milipede looks geli cos Chris took close up. haha. It was actually quite tiny ;P

    Big Boys Oven~
    yea it was! You guys should try exploring East Msia too 🙂

    Precious Pea~
    it was our first time encountering the green shelled snail too 🙂
    The dishes were really good. How I wish I could have those now 😉

    thenomadGourmand~
    yea.. luckily Miss Jean was there as our host. Easier to get around and look for local food! ^^

    thele a.k.a leo~
    yea us too! 🙂
    then we don't need to fuss about where to eat and the places to visit. Best of all. We know we won't be going the wrong way for food! ^^

    taufulou~
    climbing around in the pitch dark cave was a great experience. Looking at the pic myself, I felt geli too. haha ^^

    iamthewitch~
    thanks gal. It was quite tiring… haha ;P thanks to the workouts, my arms and feet hurt the next day ;P lol.

    superwilson~
    since you have visited the Kuching City, it's time for you and Rachel to turn to some rainforest workouts! hehehe ^^

    kampungboycitygal~
    marbled goby. Ooo I didn't know Ikan Hantu was called this. Such posh name. lol.
    If I am not mistaken, Marbled Goby was sold at RM90 per kg. Cheaper than KL 🙂 Very delicious dear!

    ck lam~
    finally we made to the other side of Malaysia. The Caves and noodles in Miri is equally memorable. Oh.. I miss the kolo mee there 🙂

  12. Nicely written …. feels like exploring with you guys virtually 😀

  13. ~Christine~Leng says: Reply

    thanks Ken! 🙂

  14. the snail super geng la! haha..

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